


Jealousy

by fabre



Category: Tales of the Abyss
Genre: Drama, First Kiss, Humor, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-01-04
Updated: 2010-01-04
Packaged: 2017-10-10 00:44:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fabre/pseuds/fabre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jealousy was an unsettling thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jealousy

Jealousy was an unsettling thing.

Not just any kind of jealousy, that is. Certainly not the kind you would feel if you were sitting at the table after dinner and dessert was being served, and you couldn't help but notice that your sister's slice of cake was considerably bigger than yours (which in some cases would have driven one to suspect the cook's helper had something to do with it, as the teen had always been eying the girl with particular interest).

Oh no. Sibling rivalry was to be expected.

_This_ kind of jealousy, however, made your stomach turn and your shoulders tense up and drew your hands into fists as you tried to fight it; and getting rid of that feeling wasn't as easy as turning pleading eyes to a nearby cook so she would slip you an extra portion.

Guy had first experienced jealousy around the time Van had arrived at the manor to teach the young Fabre all that he had forgotten about swordfighting. It was to be expected, after all. After his kidnapping —or his birth really, the blonde quietly amended in his head—, Luke had barely been able to make a sound or move on his own, let alone had any notion of how to handle a sword.

It hadn't been that way from the beginning. It was true that Guy had grown fonder of Luke in the time since he had been rescued; it wasn't exactly easy not to, when he'd hardly left the redhead's side since his return. However, he was barely a teenager at the time, and the arrival of Van had meant that Luke would have something else to do besides follow him around all day, or call his name pitifully when he wasn't allowed.

He would finally get some hard earned time to himself. He could read a book, maybe work on some of his fontech projects! The possibilities were endless.

Surprisingly, it hadn't been as enjoyable as he'd first anticipated.

The first stirrings of the feeling began to make themselves known one sunny afternoon, while Van was teaching Luke about form and Guy was sitting on the nearby bench reading. The last couple of days had been increasingly odd. The redhead had been wary around Van at first, not really liking this new concept which included someone other than Guy teaching him things. It had taken many encouraging talks and reassurances that he would learn more from the Commandant before the Luke had become willing to give him a chance (he'd still been stuck in that stage where he had trouble believing anyone could teach him better than his can-do-no-wrong caretaker).

Slowly, Van had started to awe Luke. As a supposedly lowly servant, Guy had been limited in what he could show of his abilities. However, the Commandant had no such restraints. He had fancy moves that made Luke's eyes shine in excitement; he would sometimes ask the Knights to face him to illustrate a point to the redhead — and his obvious combat superiority had started to draw the impressionable noble to him.

It was true that even before he'd been kidnapped, the young boy —or well, Asch, now that he thought about it— had looked up to Van, but his excitement had been restrained and poised, just like everything else about him. This new Luke was still hard to impress, but so far he had only ever looked at one person with such wonder, and —to his continuous embarrassment— it had always been him.

The redhead didn't have much of an attention span, but he seemed just as focused as the previous Luke had always been when around Van. Watching the way his eyes followed the older man's every move —continually seeking attention, a pat of approval, a smile— it had begun to dawn on Guy.

Seeing the way he almost _glowed_ with excitement as he recounted his lessons over breakfast, left a strangely bitter aftertaste in his mouth after witnessing them firsthand. It wasn't that he was particularly bothered over Luke's enthusiasm for the sword —with how hyperactive the boy had been since his arrival, it had been no surprise that he'd taken to it—, but there was something about the flush on his cheeks at every mention of "Master Van"'s next visit that had made Guy want to draw the attention of those green eyes back to himself (which, after all his complaining to Pere about the boy's clinginess, surprised even him).

He'd often wondered if Van had been Luke's first crush, but he'd wisely dismissed the thought before it could fully form in his head.

 

The next time he could clearly remember experiencing that feeling, it had been just a few days after he and Luke had been reunited; after Luke's impromptu "escape" from the manor.

He'd just finished cooking dinner for them all, when he'd turned to find Luke and Tear talking quietly by a tree nearby, the songstress saying something that made Luke's face turn about as red as his hair as he sputtered helplessly, flailing in the way he always did just before he would cross his arms over his chest to try and salvage some of his pride — clearly embarrassed at having been once again reminded of something else he didn't know about how the real world worked.

Something about the normalcy of the scene had made his hunger decrease considerably for some reason —not that he was about to skip dinner; they were traveling on foot and had monsters to fight. It would have been reckless of him to deprive himself of the extra energy reserve—, but then Luke had noticed him looking and he'd quickly stood up to make his way to his side —Guy suspected he was feeling grateful of the excuse to leave in the middle of his embarrassment—, reaching around the blonde to try and steal a taste of the delicious-smelling food currently simmering over the fire. His plan had been thwarted by a well-aimed tap of a ladle against his wrist, and green eyes had once again been only for him as he got a "_Guuuuy,_" for his efforts. With that, he'd gotten his spoiled, complaining Luke back and the previous incident had been forgotten.

Even months after that, no matter how much they traveled, he could never really decipher what it was that Luke felt for Tear. The girl's feelings towards the redhead were obvious to anyone with a working brain —which didn't really speak well of Luke, considering he was the only one completely oblivious to it—, but there were things about Luke's behavior that just didn't add up in Guy's mind. It had always been a small source of pride that he could read the redhead like a book —the incident with Van and Akzeriuth had somehow managed to escape him, and he still liked to kick himself now and then for not having seen the signs in time, but that was neither here nor there—, but he guessed that even after all these years taking care of him, he'd never really had a chance to see how Luke reacted to attraction. So there really was no parallel for him to work with. The closest he had ever come to a crush had probably been his obsession with Van, and even today the thought didn't settle well with Guy, so he didn't exactly like to use that as a parameter.

It was clear that Luke had cared about what she thought of him, but he'd also been anxious to prove himself to Jade, Anise, himself. To Asch.

There were days when he was certain that Luke _had_ to like her back —those days were not his own best days, he might add—. Everything about them was the perfect love story. She'd gotten him out of the house that had been his prison for seven long years; had shown him the world that he'd been so eager to see.

The world that Guy had been hoping to show him.

It was ironic, in a way. After countless times having watched those green eyes gazing longingly past the walls that surrounded his home when he thought Guy wasn't looking, he'd spent so many nights daydreaming about where he would take the redhead first. The places he would show him, the foods they would try, the things he would teach him.

Tear had taken that from him, before he'd even had the chance to realize there was something to take in the first place. It had come to him one night, when they were on their way back to Baticul and Luke had been sleeping in the bed next to his. There was a bitter aftertaste to the realization, but he found it was not towards Tear. He didn't resent her —it wasn't like she'd done it on purpose, not to mention their little trip had ended up being a lot more complicated than finding their way back—. It had just dawned on him that the feelings he'd started to notice he had towards Luke ran a little bit deeper than he had admitted to himself.

But, unlike Luke, Guy was good at pretending everything was alright, and their journey went on.

 

He had to wonder why he was thinking about this tonight of all nights. They'd just left Tataroo Valley behind, Luke having come back to them no more than an hour ago. The journey back to Baticul wouldn't be long on the Albiore, but they still had a few hours to go before they'd reach their destination.

There had been a lot of time to think while Luke had been gone, those two maddening long years still weighing heavily on his mind as he tried to come to terms with the fact that his wait was over: Luke was back. _He was back._

He guessed it had to do with the fact that he didn't really know what to do now. It was true that Luke was back, but things had changed and he wasn't sure what his place in the redhead's life was anymore. He'd always been too scared of losing his best friend to reveal what he felt for him before, and two years apart didn't exactly help with that feeling. For someone who had experienced the losses Guy had endured, the possibility of losing someone as important as Luke was to him wasn't just a cause for nerves — it was downright terrifying.

He was currently alone on the ship's deck; having decided he needed to get some air before he ended up clinging to Luke a little longer than what was probably considered inconspicuous. It had been hard to step away after that first hug, and something about the way Luke had been looking at him had made him feel extra self-conscious. Maybe it was the fact that Luke looked older, ethereal under the moonlight, but for a moment he'd felt both young and transparent under that green gaze. He hadn't been able to meet his eyes after that.

He ran a tired hand through short blonde hair as he gazed after the retreating view of the fallen Eldrant, leaning partially on the railing. Heh, he was probably acting like an idiot. He had his best friend back, so that should have been enough, right? Luke was probably finally going to answer Tear's love confession, and they'd both be flustered because that's what Luke and Tear did when faced with embarrassing subjects, while he'd go back to Grand Chokmah, stay the best friend, and probably visit during important dates. Maybe he'd even come to their wedding.

Before he could hit his head against the railing to wipe away that particular image, the sound of a door buzzing open behind him startled him out of his thoughts. He didn't need to turn around to know who it was, because soon there was a familiar warmth leaning on the railing next to him, and the wind had carried over a scent he knew so well he wouldn't have mistaken it anywhere.

"Luke."

"Guy."

"I thought you'd be resting."

There was a small smile on his face, "That's what I'm doing."

Guy's expression clearly showed his answer required elaboration, and the familiarity of it made Luke chuckle, "I'm glad to be back, and I do want to know what's been going on, but when Natalia started going on about all the things she wants me to do once we get back to Baticul, I thought I'd heard enough for one night. Told them I was kind of tired, so they let me go." There was a pause, "I just never said I'd be going to bed."

Having known the redhead for such a long time, it came as no surprise. And he couldn't hold back a strangely relieved laugh —two years may have passed, but this Luke was still his Luke— as he reached over to ruffle his hair, "Still good at avoiding talks, I see."

He hadn't been expecting the suddenly serious green eyes that met his, and he'd have dropped his hand in surprise had Luke not grabbed it before it could and held it against his chest, "Not as good as you."

There was silence. He wasn't sure what to say to that, his mind racing in an attempt to figure out what the boy —or was it man now?— standing before him could mean, but a little preoccupied at the moment with just how warm and soft that hand holding his was. They'd both been training for years, how could it feel that soft?

Since he wasn't saying anything, Luke spoke again, "You've been avoiding me since we left Tataroo Valley."

He had to look away again —because he'd found it was harder to fake a smile when someone was watching you that intently— as he laughed half-heartedly, "Seriously, Luke. What are you talking about? The others were catching you up, and I thought you'd have things to discuss with Tear, so I thought I'd give you a chance to—."

Before he could finish, both of his hands were being pressed against the railing at his sides as the redhead trapped him against it, his body so much closer than Guy felt comfortable with. Still, it made it hard to look away, and that had probably been Luke's intent. He absently reminded himself that he could have freed himself if he had really tried —Luke may have had the strength, but he still was taller than his former charge—, but the other's closeness was intoxicating and his brain seemed to be skipping a few logical connections at the moment.

"You've always been good at not answering." Luke's 'don't-give-me-nonsense' voice sounded so much hotter than he remembered it being. Had it always been like that? Maybe two years had changed some things after all. Or maybe he was still simply shaken by his return, "But I don't have the patience for it tonight."

Guy had been in the middle of untangling his voice cords to try and dismiss the seriousness of the moment with some light-hearted comment, but then a warm body was pressing even closer against his and a pair of very resolute lips were pressing against his own, and his brain seemed to give up on functioning. A hand easily escaped Luke's hold to bury itself in that long red hair he'd spent so many mornings brushing, years of pent up frustration, desperation, longing, releasing themselves in that kiss. Before he even knew what he was doing he'd pushed Luke back until his larger frame had him trapped against the nearby wall of the Albiore, desperate lips moving against surprisingly pliant ones in a bruising kiss he couldn't bring himself to break.

Not that Luke seemed in any hurry to stop, with the way he was pressing himself up against him and parting his lips to invite his tongue in — an invitation which Guy gladly accepted as he ran his hands over everything he could reach. Down that strong back and over the tantalizing curve just below a tailbone, over that muscled stomach and those soft hips.

Lack of air made him come back to himself after what felt like seconds but were really probably minutes, and he'd have stepped back to try and make sense of things if only Luke's hands hadn't been clinging to the back of his jacket.

"L-Luke," Considering his options were limited, he chose to rest his forehead against the other man's shoulder, trying to get his head to stop spinning and his body to stop feeling like it was burning as he caught his breath, "I..."

He felt a kiss against the side of his brow, and the redhead's hold changed so he could wrap his arms around him in a hug.

His eyes were stinging just a bit as he laughed shakily, and he smiled his first real smile since he'd first hugged Luke today, "I'm so glad you're back."

The obvious emotion in Guy's voice made him laugh, but he kept his comments to himself, "Me too, Guy, me too."

There were still a million things left to say, but for now, that was enough.

And more importantly...

Something told him he wouldn't have to feel jealous anymore.


End file.
